- March through the Ancient Cedar Forest
- Drive from McBride to Smithers on the Yellowhead Highway
This is what my host thinks about my route from McBride to Smithers today. Well for us Swiss these are different distances than for people who grew up here in the lonely north of British Columbia. Anyway, I'm lucky that the night stayed reasonably dry.
But as soon as on the way it starts to pour again. Once I briefly see a black bear on the side of the road. By the time I stopped the car, however, the animal disappeared in the thicket. There is a ghostly atmosphere over the vast forests, isolated farms and meadows. Thick fog and rain clouds move over the landscape, and the little light is also dimmed by the smoke particles in the air. Sometimes you can literally smell them. In any case, the local population is happy about the upcoming bad weather period. After all, June was one of the driest in the region since measurements began. Combined with a dry last autumn and late winter, forest fires raged across the province. In total there should be 162 at the moment, so I find out on the radio. The situation in the Northwest Territories is even worse. This is where the global warming factor is even more important. Since the summers with little precipitation are getting longer and longer, the entire taiga forests are increasingly drying up.
After an hour's drive, I take my first rest. I do a good 1 hour hike through the Ancient Cedar Forest. The path leads through a unique area of inland rainforest, which is extremely rare today, with giant trees that are up to 2000 years old. As the word rainforest suggests, it rains continuously. However, that somehow fits the mood in the middle of countless ferns, disintegrating giant trunks and drooping areas. What makes the cedars even more special is that they are just under 800 km from the coast. The primeval forest owes its origin to a special weather constellation, which causes the clouds coming from the Pacific to rain down in front of the Rocky Mountains. This allowed the trees to grow for several thousand years without being destroyed by fire. Incredible that this forest could only be saved from destruction in 2006. A student discovered during his work that some of these trees were marked for cutting. Fortunately, he turned the public on just in time and the forest could be preserved for posterity.
Unfortunately, there is no improvement in sight from the weather front and the ash particles in the air are even increasing. Finally I reach the unofficial capital of Northern BC: Prince George. The city with almost 80,000 inhabitants is once again not much worth seeing. I buy a new cable in the gigantic Canadian Tire Store to connect the cool box to the car battery. From here it is "only" 370 km to Smithers. Although it gets a bit dry again and the air a bit clearer, it pretty much steals the charm of the actually beautiful landscape. My busiest companions are the countless Moose street signs. It's supposed to be teeming with moose here, but I don't see any. Finally, with Smithers, I once again reached a well-known town. Here I find a parking space for one night in the RV Park. Useful but without charm, even if the place is called Glacier View. I use the drying window to quickly cook ravioli and add leftover vegetables.
